How this textbook was made and why

This textbook is a open educational resource (OER) available to all students at Lorain County Community College. If you are enrolled in College Composition, this will be your required textbook. If you are not enrolled in one of those courses, you will still find information that will help you with the academic reading, writing, and research assignments that you are working on in your other classes.

Composition for Commodores was created by a committee of LCCC English faculty. We wrote some of the chapters from scratch. Other chapters remix material that we found in other OERs. At the end of each chapter, you will find an “Attributions” list where we acknowledge our sources. You can consult those sources yourself to get more information about the writing topics you’re interested in.

As an OER, Composition for Commodores is freely available online. Our goal for creating this textbook was to reduce your textbook costs and to ensure you could access the course readings you needed anywhere, anytime. You can view this textbook easily on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. You can visit the Library, the Writing Center, the Tutoring Center, or any of LCCC’s Computer Labs if you need access to a computer.

How to find what you need

Like most textbooks, this one is divided into chapters. A table of contents is included on the textbook’s home page. You can click on any of the chapter titles to read the chapter. Note that each chapter is divided into smaller sections that must be clicked on individually. If your instructor asks you to read “Chapter 1: Introduction to College Composition at LCCC,” you should read all of the sections (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4) unless your instructor says otherwise.

If you are looking for information about a specific writing topic that’s not clearly listed in the table of contents, you can use the textbook’s search function. In the upper righthand corner of the home page, there’s a “Search in book” option. For example, try searching for “outlines” or “taking notes” and see what comes up.

If your instructor has assigned readings from this textbook, you may not need to use the table of contents or the search function at all. Your instructor may provide links to the specific pages within the textbook that you’re supposed to read.

How to access the reading anthologies

At the end of the textbook, we have included essay and literature anthologies. Your instructor may assign several of these reading selections as homework in your English 161 or English 162 course. These readings are copyrighted and are only available through LCCC’s Bass Library website. In order to access them, you will need an LCCC email address and password. When you click on the link provided, you will be prompted to log on to the Bass Library system in the same way that you log on to MyCampus and Canvas. Some of the links will take you directly to a PDF or HTML version of the reading selection. Other links will take you to the library’s catalogue page for the selection where you will have to use the “Full Text Finder” link to access the reading in a different database. You can read the selections online, and many are available to download and print. To see an example, use this link to access John Taylor Gatto’s essay, “Against School”.

How to annotate an online textbook

Note-taking is an important part of the college learning experience. As you read the selections in this textbook, you should take careful notes and even mark directly on the reading selections by highlighting, underlining, or writing questions in the margins. To do this, it may be best to print the most important chapters that you have been assigned. Your instructor can give you advice about which chapters require the closest reading and annotation.

It’s also possible to read and annotate digital and online texts right on your computer using a variety of apps. Below is a list of free apps you can use to annotate digital and online texts.

PDF Annotation Tools

The following tools allow users to annotate PDF files.

Xournal++ is an open-source note-taking software with robust features for computers. The app allows users to hand-write notes using a stylus, digital pen, or mouse, and its PDF annotation tool allows users to annotate on top of PDFs. The app also allows users to type their notes. The software is available for Windows, MacOS, and Ubuntu operating systems. To download, scroll down to the “Installing” section of the linked site, click on the “Releases” link (or click on that link), and find the zipped package appropriate for your operating system. When the zipped file is downloaded, unzip the contents to a location on your device, click or double-click on the application file in the unzipped folder, and follow the installation instructions. For more information, view the user manual. There is a mobile version of the app though it is in its beta stage.

Xodo is another free PDF annotation tool, though the app requires a free account. It also offers subscriptions with additional features. The free version of the app is available on PC, on browsers, and on mobile devices. The free version opens access to most of the app’s features, from annotation to PDF file conversion and cloud storage. Downloading and installing the app will require a free account. To sign up, visiting the “Pricing” page by clicking on that link or navigating to the tab on the page linked above.

Browser-based Annotation Tools

All of the following tools allow users to annotate web pages without downloading or converting them to PDFs.

Weava is an extension for the Chrome web browser that features various annotation tools, such as highlighters and notes. To install this, open the link in the Chrome web browser and click on the “Install Chrome Extension” button.

Annotating the Web is an add-on for the Firefox browser that allows users to highlight and add notes to web pages. Additional features include a text tagging function and the ability to save notes to local storage. To install, click on the “Add to Firefox” button at the link above.

Memex is another open-source annotation add-on for Firefox. In addition to common annotation features like a highlighter and notes, this app allows users to save, view, and organise their annotations and notes across devices. To install, click on the “Add to Firefox” button at the link above.

How to cite an online textbook

When citing, you should treat each section of this textbook as a separate page on the Composition for Commodores website. You will create your works cited entry for a page by following MLA’s guidance for citing a page on a website, which you can find in LCCC’s MLA Style Guide LibGuide. When the page is attributed to a specific author or editor, you will follow the “Page on a Website–Known Author” format. When the page is not attributed to a specific author or editor, you will follow the “Page on a Website–No Author” format. In this textbook, authors/editors are listed on the final page of each chapter in the Creative Commons Attributions box.

For example, Chapter 1 of this textbook was edited by Justin Sevenker. If you needed to cite information that you found in Chapter 1.1, “What is College Composition?” the works cited entry would look like this:

Sevenker, Justin. “What is College Composition?” Composition for Commodores,

https://pressbooks.pub/compositionforcommodores/chapter/1-1-what-is-college-

composition/.

If you need to create a citation for the textbook as a whole rather than for a single page within the textbook, that citation will look like this:

Chambers, Mollie, et al., Composition for Commodores. Pressbooks, 2023,

https://pressbooks.pub/compositionforcommodores/.

How to get a print copy of the textbook

This textbook contains more information than you will need in a single English 161 or English 162 course. For that reason, if you want to read the textbook in print, it may be best to print just the chapters you are assigned rather than the entire textbook. Students have several options for printing on LCCC’s campus. That said, if you do want a print copy of the full textbook, you can purchase one at LCCC’s Commodore Books and More bookstore. The print copies are not free, but they are less expensive than the cost of a traditional print textbook.

Whether you have printed a chapter yourself or purchased the full textbook in print, please note that you will encounter several formatting discrepancies in your print copy. Composition for Commodores is a digital text that is meant to be used online. When converted to a PDF file and printed in hardcopy, the formatting changes in ways that can be distracting or confusing. Again, we encourage you to print selectively. Even then, it will be helpful to refer back to the online version often.